Boxscore

IUP cut a 16-point deficit all the way down to two and had two shots at a tying 3-pointer in the finals seconds before losing to host West Liberty 89-86 in the championship game of the NCAA Atlantic Region tournament Tuesday night.

The Crimson Hawks finished the season with a record of 26-6 and saw their 13-game winning streak snapped. West Liberty, the No. 1 team in the nation, remained undefeated at 32-0 and advanced to the Elite 8 for the first time in school history. The Hilltoppers also avenged an 84-72 loss to IUP in the same round a year ago.

Darryl Webb (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) concluded his outstanding four years at IUP with 23 points and 16 rebounds for his 54th career double-double. He finishes as the school's all-time leader several categories, including games played (126), points (1,949), rebounds (1,214), field goals made (708) and blocked shots (162).

Four other Crimson Hawks reached double figures, including Julian Sanders (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) (17), Kevin Stewart (Philadelphia, Pa./Academy Park) (13), Scooter Renkin (Midlothian, VA/Blue Ridge) (12) and Ashton Smith (Scarborough, ON/West Hill Collegiate) (11). Webb and Smith were named to the all-tournament team.

IUP shot 50.8 percent from the floor and held a 40-31 rebounding advantage but committed 16 turnovers to only 10 for West Liberty and allowed the Hilltoppers to shoot 50 percent, only the third opponent to make at least half their field goal attempts. The Crimson Hawks did hold the Hilltoppers 23 points below their national-leading average of 112.3.

IUP trailed 87-80 after Corey Pelle hit a jumper with just 33 seconds remaining, but Renkin kept the Crimson Hawks alive with a pair of long 3-pointers sandwiched around two free throws by Alex Falk to make it 89-86 with 13 seconds left.

One second later, Jordan Fortney was fouled but missed both free throws, and Webb secured the rebound for IUP. The Crimson Hawks called timeout to set up a 3-pointer by Sanders, who made four in the game and 12 in tournament. The second leading 3-pointer shooter in school history misfired but Renkin grabbed the rebound. After checking his position on the floor, Renkin let go with a 3-pointer as time expired but could not connect.

Pelle, the tournament MVP, led the Hilltoppers with 23 points and also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists. Chris Morrow came off the bench to add 20 points, followed by John Wolosinczuk with 13, Falk with 12 and Fortney with 11. West Liberty defeated IUP for the first time in four all-time meetings and extended its home winning streak to 49 in a row.

IUP, which lost in the regional final for the first time in six trips, also lost for only the fifth time in 22 regional games in 11 NCAA tournament appearances. The Crimson Hawks completed a three-year run with a total of 81 wins (22, 33 and 26), topping the 1993-94 through 1995-96 total of 80 victories. Joe Lombardi also reached 100 wins in five seasons as head coach at IUP during the tournament.

All six losses this season came by five points or less, including one by two points and four by three. IUP had not lost since a 64-61 setback at Mercyhurst on January 29. The 89 points scored by West Liberty eclipsed the previous high allowed by the Crimson Hawks this season, which came in the semifinals when IUP defeated Bowie State 94-81.

IUP led 38-37 at halftime but quickly fell behind as the Hilltoppers ripped off a 20-3 run over the first five minutes of the second half to take a 57-41 lead. Fortney, Wolosinczuk and Pelle each hit 3-pointers and Falk converted a three-point play to cap the run at the 15:01 mark. The West Liberty lead stayed in double figures before a 3-pointer by Marcel Souberbielle (Montevideo, Uruguay/Uruguayan American School) and a jumper by Stewart made it 73-65 with 7:27 remaining.

The Crimson Hawks continued their comeback on a basket by Smith and a 3-pointer by Sanders following an offensive foul on Pelle to make it 73-70 with still 6:11 to go. A basket and free throw by Webb less than a minute later got IUP as close as it would get at 75-73.

A jumper by Webb made it 78-75 with 3:47 left. Wolosinczuk hit a jumper and then assisted Barry Shetzer on a three-point play that pushed the Hilltopper led back up to 83-75 with 2:56 to go, setting the stage for the dramatic ending.